Glancing around the party, I spot Parker at the far side of the bonfire pit, laughing with a few of the friends I recognize from the skate park. On the opposite side is a group of girls standing together in the sand, shooting conspicuous glances at the boys across the pit.
“It’s funny how they’re separated off,” I say.
“Who?” asks Landon.
“The boys and the girls. I thought cooties faded after eighth grade.”
“Please. They never fade. They’re an invisible disease, like…chlamydia.”
I smirk. “Have a lot of experience with that one, do you?” He shoots me a dirty look, and I can’t help but snicker. “I’m kidding.” I nudge him in the shoulder. “Lighten up.”
“Telling someone tolighten upgenerally has the opposite effect.”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Well, at least Parker’s happy,” I say, looking back at the birthday boy. His group is staring at us now, and I give an enthusiastic wave, not caring if I look crazy. Parker gives a limp wave in return, and a few of the boys surrounding him elbow him, snickering. He blushes, looking down and away, and Landon snorts.
“What?” I ask, glancing at him.
“If Parker wasn’t popular before, he sure is now.”
My face screws up in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, cut the shit. You know the effect you have. It’s all part of your,” he hesitates, “charm.”
“Why do I get the feelingcharmwas not the first word that came to mind there?”
“I was going to say act, but charm sounds muchfriendlier.”
“Myact?” I bristle. “I thought we’d moved passed this con-woman bullshit.”
“I only meant you know the effect you have on men. There’s no use pretending otherwise. It comes across as dishonest.”
Now I cross my arms over my chest, unsure of how offended I should actually be. “The effect I have on men? Seriously?”
“What?” he asks, seeing nothing wrong with the direction of this conversation. “Men like you. You have an innate ability to wrap them around your finger. My brother. Parker. Your co-workers. Regulars at the club. That dickhead McCoy.”
“Everyone except for you,” I point out.
“Well.” He shrugs. “I’m smarter than most people.”
I can’t help but laugh at his comment. “Modest, too.”
“I just tell it like it is.”
“Well, if I have someeffecton men, you have the same on women.” I nod my head toward the group of teenage girls still huddled together by the shoreline. They keep shooting Landon conspicuous glances before whispering to each other, giggling into their hands. “I think those girls are in love with you, at least from afar. Revel in it now. Once they discover your personality, it’ll be game over.”
“Fourteen-year-old me wouldn’t have given them the time of day. Eli was always the ladies’ man. He had girls fawning over him since first grade. In high school, he had so many girlfriends that I stopped trying to remember their names.”
“Are you implying that you were a loner in high school?” I ask, trying and failing to picture Landon Blair sitting alone at lunch, awkward and unsure, the way I did through most of school. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“I didn’t have time for girls. Eli was busy juggling cheerleaders, and Junior was doing his best idiot impression most of the time. Someone had to apply themselves.”
“Don’t tell me you were king of the mathletes.”
“No,” he sniffs. “But Iwasvaledictorian.”
I almost laugh becauseof course. That’s way more on brand. “And I’m sure you relish any opportunity to bring it up.”
He looks me over in a way that makes me want to fidget. Somehow, I refrain. “Let me guess. Homecoming Queen.”
